Baylor 1st, UConn 2nd In AP Preseason Women's Basketball Poll

October 27, 2012|By JOHN ALTAVILLA, jaltavilla@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

Defending champion Baylor, led by 6-foot-8 senior center and reigning national Player of the Year Brittney Griner, is the No. 1 team in women's basketball, according to the Associated Press' preseason poll.

The Lady Bears, 40-0 last season, received all 40 first-place votes. They return 90.4 percent of their scoring and 86.8 percent of their rebounding.

UConn is No. 2 in the poll with 951 points. Duke (909), Stanford (854) and Maryland (827) rounded out the Top 5. Baylor and UConn meet at the XL Center Feb. 18.

There are five Big East teams in the poll. Notre Dame (No. 7) and Louisville (No. 9) join UConn in the Top 10. St. John's (No. 14) and DePaul (No. 25) join them.